Seven Billion on October 31ish?

The United Nations has proclaimed October 31, 2011 to be the day that the seven billionth human will be born on earth. The selection of October 31 is somewhat ceremonial and arbitrary as it is purely an estimate; the Population Reference Bureau places the world population as of this writing at 7.013 billion.

The significance of this most recent billion, in which the world's population has grown from six billion in 1999 to seven billion in 2012, is not lost on politicians, geographers, humanitarians, and others who are looking forward to further population growth.

With the ceremonial date of October 31, the United Nations is supporting a plethora of activities to mark the threshold when the earth's population odometer crosses from 6,999,999,999 to 7,000,000,000. Events are planned for October 31 at UN Headquarters in New York City; expect innumerable news stories to mark the event. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon remarked on the upcoming population transition on United Nations Day, October 24, "Let us unite, seven billion strong, in the name of the global common good." That sentiment will be the common goal over the next few months as global leadership seek to understand the significance of seven billion. In that vein, the UN recently launched a campaign, 7 Billion Actions, focused on humanity's ability to positively change. On that site, one can view a counter showing the "current" estimated global population as it rolls toward seven billion.

Current estimates expect that the world's population will hit the eight billion mark in 2025, 14 years from now. Soon after the world's population reaches eight billion, India's population is likely to exceed that of China's.